Credit Suisse Americas Foundation Expands Mission to Include Funding for Education

NEW YORK, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Credit Suisse Americas Foundation ("the Foundation") today announced that it has expanded the scope of its mission and operations with the launch of a new pilot program focused on education.

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In addition to supporting the causes in which Credit Suisse employees are personally engaged, the Foundation will now also benefit programs focused on creating educational opportunities for disadvantaged youths. Since December 2009, as part of the new program, the Foundation has distributed US$2 million to schools and organizations working on teacher recruitment, training and retention. The Foundation's support will help programs in Chicago, Boston, Houston, San Francisco, New York and other locations where Credit Suisse operates in the Americas. 

"While private funders have provided much of the early support for education reform, the area is now ripe for corporate involvement. Credit Suisse is proud to make these important investments and help drive positive change in education," commented Eric Eckholdt, Executive Director of the Credit Suisse Americas Foundation. 

"Credit Suisse has long valued and promoted volunteerism on the part of its employees. While we will continue to encourage these efforts, we also felt it was important for the Foundation to allocate a portion of its annual support to this critical societal issue where we can focus on outcomes," said Marc Granetz, Chairman, Global IBD and Foundation Board member serving as Head of the Education Task Force. "Education is one of Credit Suisse's core global philanthropic initiatives and it is at an inflection point in the US. We believe the sixteen organizations we are funding as part of our pilot program are leading the charge on number of important reform fronts," continued Granetz.

The goal of the new program is to benefit students in local communities and support vital educational initiatives through a number of select projects. The program will concentrate on two specific areas: investing in schools that represent materially better alternatives for students, and investing in programs that aid in the recruitment, training and retention of effective teachers and school leaders. 

Already in this initial stage, the program has provided US$2 million to support 16 organizations, with US$1.1 million distributed to schools represented by 11 different organizations and US$900,000 distributed to five human capital organizations.

"We are thrilled to be included in the Credit Suisse Americas Foundation's initial round of education grants.  Credit Suisse recognizes the critical need to support effective teachers and leaders in the education reform movement, and we are grateful for their investment in ensuring educational excellence and equity," said Wendy Kopp, CEO & Founder of Teach For America.

To date, the grants provided through this program have been directed towards public schools that provide excellent K-12 education opportunities to underprivileged students as well as small, private schools, which have a consistent need for private support and where smaller investments help sustain quality education environments. Finally, support has also been provided to organizations that aim to attract new teachers, provide additional training for existing teachers and principals, and encourage a restructuring of incentives which result in improvements in student education.

Please copy this url into your browser (https://www.credit-suisse.com/citizenship/doc/cs_americas_foundation_pilot_program.pdf) to view a list of grants in the pilot program.

Credit Suisse AG

Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as 'Credit Suisse'). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse offers clients its combined expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management. Credit Suisse provides advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 47,400 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.  

Credit Suisse Americas Foundation

The Credit Suisse Americas Foundation seeks to address societal challenges in the communities where our employees live and work through ongoing charitable and volunteer activities. Financial support is directed primarily to organizations where Credit Suisse employees are involved as volunteers, increasing the depth of the Foundation's impact, as well as to organizations that provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged young people. Annually over 4,500 Credit Suisse employees volunteer through the Foundation's programs, providing over 40,000 hours of services in 25 cities throughout the region.

Copyright 2009, Credit Suisse Group AG and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

This document was produced by and the opinions expressed are those of Credit Suisse as of the date of writing and are subject to change. It has been prepared solely for information purposes and for the use of the recipient. It does not constitute an offer or an invitation by or on behalf of Credit Suisse to any person to buy or sell any security. Any reference to past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future. The information and analysis contained in this publication have been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable but Credit Suisse does not make any representation as to their accuracy or completeness and does not accept liability for any loss arising from the use hereof.

SOURCE Credit Suisse AG